“Say, Raynor, old man!â€� cried the boy enthusiastically, while the shouldering form of the berg grew dim, a passed menace, and the raucous shouts of the crew rose up to him, “say Raynor, I’ll take back what I said about Captain Briggs. I——why don’t you answer?â€�
Jack turned swiftly. Then he stiffened with alarm. The place where his chum had been perched upon the rail was vacant. Raynor was gone. For a brief instant Jack was silent from the shock. Then his voice rang out in tones of vibrant fear.
“Man overboard!� he cried, running forward stumblingly, “man overboard!�
CHAPTER IV: MAN OVERBOARD!
Simultaneously with the shivering shock of the impact with the iceberg, Billy Raynor felt himself lose his balance.
He grasped frantically at the air as he fell backward. But the next moment, too alarmed to cry out, he was himself tumbling through space. Then came the sharp shock and the icy sensation of his immersion as he struck the water.
He came to the surface, his lungs full of brine and his ears roaring as if an express train had been rushing past them. He gasped for breath and spat the salt water out. Far above him he saw for a flash the black, high hull of the Cambodian. He saw her lights. For a brief instant he could hear shouts.
And then the ship had passed by. An instant later she had vanished from the castaway lad’s sight.
“Help!� yelled Raynor, finding his voice at last. He sent the cry echoing and volleying across the dark water again and again. But there was no response.
A chill of deadly fear, not altogether born of the icy water, struck in at his heart. He was alone on the Atlantic. Nothing but his own efforts would keep him above the water very long. And weighted as he was by his water-soaked clothes, he felt his strength ebbing every moment.